RAHWAY, N.J. — Merck Animal Health announces it has signed a definitive agreement to obtain TARGAN, a privately held company that specializes in developing biodevice technologies designed to improve poultry performance.
This acquisition is for an undisclosed amount; however, Merck has been an investor in TARGAN for the past 9 years and has been one of the company’s largest shareholders. Officials note that contingent upon regulatory approval and additional closing conditions, the purchase is anticipated to be completed in the third quarter of this year.
“The acquisition of TARGAN’s best-in-class biodevice technology for use in commercial hatcheries complements and accelerates our growing biopharmaceutical presence in poultry and increases our ability to deliver significant customer value globally,” Rick DeLuca, Merck Animal Health president, said in the announcement. “Additionally, TARGAN brings device development capabilities that will further strengthen our ability to provide animal health solutions across species.”
“This transaction, coupled with our commercial and scientific expertise, is another example of how we deliver meaningful innovation to our customers while creating new opportunities for the future,” DeLuca added.
Among the commercial poultry products that Merck notes as one of the most compelling involved with this acquisition is WingScan, which is an automated vision technology solution that is used to sort chicks by gender with a capacity of 160,000 chicks per hour. It can, in real time, capture high-resolution images of a chick’s feathers and provide analysis using proprietary algorithms.
“Merck Animal Health has been a foundational partner of TARGAN since our inception through its belief and commitment to scientific excellence and a common goal of bringing technological innovation to the livestock industry,” Ramin Karimpour, TARGAN founder and CEO, noted in the announcement. “Through this proposed acquisition, TARGAN will be able to access resources and infrastructure of Merck Animal Health, which will be critical in deploying TARGAN’s innovative biodevice technology along with Merck Animal Health’s broad portfolio of poultry vaccines for customers.”
TARGAN, based in Raleigh, N.C., was founded in 2015. Merck Animal Health has more than 130 years of experience in the global animal health business.
